The present invention relates to the use of a rock discharge assembly for a hay conditioner or crusher which permits rocks, lumps of dirt, and other dense objects to be discharged between a cut forage feeder and crushing rolls to avoid damage to the rotating parts used in the hay crusher.
A hay conditioning system known as the HAYBINE and sold by Ford New-Holland, Inc. of New Holland, Pa., utilizes a forage crop cutting assembly having a header with a sickle bar that will cut the standing hay (forage crop), and a feed auger which conveys the hay from one or both ends of the header toward a central portion of the header wherein the cut forage forms a windrow that is somewhat cohesive. The windrow is moved rearwardly with paddles on the auger through a discharge opening in the rear wall of the header and into the "nip" of (between) a pair of hay conditioner rolls for crimping. The rolls are power driven and will cause a crushing or crimping of the hay stems and leaves, permitting more rapid curing or drying of the hay. See for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,624,987 and 4,216,641.
In areas of the country where there are rocks or stones of significant size, a problem has developed in that rocks will be hit with the feed paddles, and moved back toward the conditioning rolls across a space between the rear wall and the conditioner roll. Also, large hard clumps or "clods" of dirt, and scalped off sod give the same problem. The rolls are of a size such that when the rocks exceed a particular size, they will not pass through the rolls, but rather will be ejected forwardly back toward the auger paddles. The transition section has a solid bottom panel so the rocks are retained in this region. Damage to the auger paddles or feed mechanism for feeding the hay into the roll thus may occur, and unless the operator stops and removes the rocks, these rocks can be batted back and forth between the rolls and the feed mechanism paddles until damage occurs.